Scientists: Threat to scallop revival in Suffolk

A large sea snail that preys on shellfish and crustaceans may threaten Suffolk's multimillion-dollar program to restore scallops in the Peconic Bay, where the onset of brown tide algae 25 years ago dealt the population a near-fatal blow.

Scientists monitoring restoration efforts there are concerned that whelks - known as scungilli in Italian-American cuisine - are devouring a significant number of seed scallops that the county has placed in the bay to try to jump-start the population. They have asked the county to fund a $70,000 investigation into channeled whelks and other predators that threaten the fragile comeback of bay scallops, which are renowned for their sweet, tender flesh.

"We've done several studies in the field where we planted scallops, and we believe that whelks may in fact be a more serious predator than we had originally believed," said Stephen Tettelbach, a biology professor at Long Island University's C.W. Post Campus in Brookville.

The proposal is set for a legislative vote Tuesday.

Kim Shaw, director of the Suffolk health department's Peconic estuary program, said the study would help quantify "anecdotal information" from local baymen who say whelks are undercutting Suffolk's investment in bay scallops. The results also could guide restoration efforts to sites where seed scallops would be less vulnerable to whelk incursions.

"They are eating a lot of bay scallops, which is costing a lot of money in seed scallops," Shaw said. Suffolk has invested $2.7 million in the restoration program and put more than 6.5 million scallops in the bay since 2004, said Carrie Meeks Gallagher, Suffolk's environmental commissioner.

The Peconic Bay once produced 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of scallops annually, one-third of the entire U.S. harvest, until a harmful algae known as brown tide struck in 1985. It turned the bay an opaque brown and starved the scallops by hampering their ability to filter nutrients from the water.

In recent years, biologists and baymen say the population appears to be recovering somewhat. A 2008 survey indicated that the bay scallop population was 30 times higher than in 2005, Gallagher said.

Still, the catch is but a fraction of its former bounty. Last year's 18,000 pound catch - the biggest in years - represents a 90 percent reduction from historic landings.

Some county lawmakers questioned the need for the new research. "We've had scallops for years and scungilli for years," said presiding officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook). "Are we just finding out that they eat one another?"

Nathan Andruski, president of the Southold Town Baymens Association, said he didn't see the need for a study. "Yeah, they eat them. They eat any sort of shellfish," Andruski said, adding that he doubted whelks could decimate the scallop population.

But backers say research is crucial to preserve progress already made. "If we have a healthy population [of scallops], it might not be so much of a problem," said Frank Castelli, the county's project director. "But this is a delicate population that is still at the turning point."

The study would estimate rates at which whelks eat bay scallops of different sizes, determine the migration rates of whelks into underwater grounds planted with scallops, and estimate their concentrations in scallop areas. Experts say the study would also try to determine if seeding efforts should be relocated.